Everton Under-18s maintained their perfect start to the Barclays U18 Premier League season by beating Stoke City Under-18s 3-0 at Finch Farm.

A goal in each half for Delial Brewster and a strike from Antony Evans was enough to give the Blues their third win in three games at the start of the season, scoring nine goals in the process.

Everton striker Brewster threatened from the early minutes, seeing a powerful fifth minute shot parried away by Christopher Marques before scoring the game’s opener in the ninth minute, coolly rounding the keeper and slotting the ball home.

The rest of the half was a cagey affair from both sides, who started the match in third and fourth place in the table, with the Stoke back-line proving hard to break down for the Blues.

However, the game opened up in the second half and it wasn’t long before the home side were applying sustained pressure on the Stoke goal, with Brewster and Daniel Bramall both going close.

Marques was called in to action again in the 69th minute, producing a finger-tip save to deny Josef Yarney’s acrobatic flick from an Everton corner.

However, in the 82nd minute Everton got the second goal that their play deserved. Bramall’s mazy run from left to right led to him crossing the ball to the back post where Evans was waiting to bury his opportunity.

The clean sheet was almost in jeopardy when Harrington was forced to clear Olusola Ayoola’s effort off the line, before Brewster wrapped up the victory in the 88th minute with a left-footed drive from the edge of the box which found its way through Marques.

Coach Paul Tait was pleased with the result and with how the players dealt with the challenge that Stoke provided them with.

He said: “We’re pleased with the result and the way that they saw the game through. It was a different challenge for them today and I’m really delighted in the way that they came through and won the game.

“It was difficult to break Stoke down, they came and they played five at the back, three sitting in midfield and we worked in the week on how we were going to break that down.

“First half, even though we were one-nil up we couldn’t really grasp how we were going to exploit them, but second half when the game got more stretched I thought we did really well.”

The result means that Everton now move up to second place in the Barclays Under 18 Premier League table, six points behind Manchester City but the Blues have two games in hand.

Tait added that it was good to see his side getting points on the board early on in the campaign and also commented on two-time Brewster who has recently struggled with injury.

He said: “The performances are obviously very important in the development programme, so that’s what we’re looking for first and foremost.

“But there’s a league there, we’re playing for points and the lads are desperate to win. So as well as looking for the team performances, the results are also important and to win three out of three is a good start.

“He’s (Delial Brewster) been out for a long time with niggly injuries, so the key for him is to stay fit, get more matches under his belt and to work hard. He did that today and got his reward with two good goals.”